Privacy policy

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.

Cookies are used minimally on this website for site usage analytics. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but some parts of the site may not work as expected.

In order to help us to improve the content, format and structure of this website we record and analyse how visitors use the website. For this purpose, we use Google Analytics.

"This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above."

We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. We will not associate any data gathered from this site with any personally identifying information from any source. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be up front about this and we will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.

For more information on enabling and disabling cookies please visit About Cookies.

*Currently no information is taken from users who visit this website

We may collect the following information via any of the site’s input forms:

• Your name

• Contact information including email address and telephone

• Message subject and the message sent

Any email address data collected is never passed on to any third parties.

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

• Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, do not tick the box to indicate that you want your email address to be used by for email marketing purposes

• If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for email marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to the address given below

• We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee may be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to: Frank Design Limited, 2nd Floor, the Mews, Charlton Place, Manchester, M12 6HS

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

For Pat, our sexual health chatbot - accessible at https://shswl.nhs.uk/ - one of our main priorities is the privacy of our chatbot visitors. This Privacy Policy document contains types of information that is collected and recorded by Pat and how we use it. 

If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us through email at clchig@nhs.net. 

This privacy policy applies only to our online chatbot and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they shared and/or collected in Pat. We only collect data when you interact with the chatbot. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this chatbot. 

Consent

By using our chatbot, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. 

Information we collect 

Pat does not ask for personal information. There is a free text chat option to talk to Pat and you may voluntarily provide personally identifiable information, which will be stored in our logs.  

If you contact us directly, we may receive additional information about you such as your name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and/or attachments you may send us, and any other information you may choose to provide. 

How we use your information 

We use the information we collect in various ways, including to: 

• Provide, operate, and maintain our chatbot 
• Improve, personalise, and expand our chatbot 
• Understand and analyse how you use our chatbot 
• Develop new products, services, features, and functionality 

Sharing your data 

Chatbot Pat is hosted and supported by our vendor, Fintek Software Limited, who may aggregate chat data to generate insights on how Pat is used for marketing purposes and to identify areas for future chatbot development. Aggregate data does not include personally identifiable data. Fintek may use chat data to look at:  

• How frequently the chatbot is used 
• Times that the chatbot is used 
• What topics Pat discusses with visitors 

For more information on how Fintek handles and stores data, please see Fintek Software's privacy policy.

Log Files 

Pat stores your chat conversation in developer log files, and in a chat history database. The information collected during your chat with Pat is sent via an encrypted message to our vendor, Fintek Software Limited, servers in London. This chat history will include chat messages you send to Pat with the free text input messages and if you select one of the chat dialog options. We also track how Pat responds. Each time you chat with Pat, we generate a session ID to group a single conversation. We use your chat information to check that Pat is responding correctly and identify where Pat needs improvements.  

Alongside your chat, we record technical data about the web request including the web browser used to access Pat, and date and time stamps when Pat was used. The purpose of the information is for analysing trends, administering the site, and gathering demographic information.

How Long We Store Your Data 

Your chat data is stored by our vendor, Fintek Software Limited, on servers based in London, UK. Data is stored for up to one year and then is automatically deleted. Log files are deleted after one month.  

We review the chat data for improvements to the bot in reports generated by Fintek Software. These reports are stored on servers based in the UK and manually deleted after two years. 

GDPR Privacy Policy (Data Protection Rights) 

We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following: 

The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service. 

The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete. 

The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions. 

The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions. 

The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions. 

The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organisation, or directly to you, under certain conditions. 

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us. 

Children's Information 

Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity. 

Pat does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.